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"The USA and UK bomb Afghanistan"

I need to consider my words and feelings as I write this, as my usual style of ranting would lead to strong language and possibly offend some people.
I am absolutely opposed to the ìwarî being waged against Terrorism by ìThe Coalitionî (basically USA & UK).
This can end up being a long and involved post, so Iíll try to keep it short.
The USA is outraged at the actions of the terrorists on Sept 11th, and rightly so. It was an horrific attack that cost the lives of thousands of innocent people that had no involvement with the USAís foreign policy in the Middle East. These were people minding their business that died.

The same is true of the people in Afghanistan in the cities that are being carpet-bombed right now in the name of ìEnduring Freedomî.
The Taliban does not live in those cities, they reside in the mountains and hills that outlay these towns.
Same as Bin Laden, he is well-hidden in the desert.
So why bomb towns?
ìBecause we are fighting back against the evil of terrorismî says Bush, sounding like a bad actor in a B-movie.

I agree that terrorism is bad, in every form.
Does this mean then, that the USA will stop funding and supporting the IRA through NORAID? Does this mean that the IRA are no longer allowed to publicly raise funds in the USA?
I would hope so if the USA are dedicated to ìfighting the forces of evilî.
The same goes with the UK ñ do we stop selling arms to East Timor? And Jakarta?
These are brutal and oppressive regimes that operate snatch squads and murder dissenters, in acts of terrorism?

What about the French Secret Service?
They bombed a ship belonging to Greenpeace, ìThe Rainbow Warriorî back in 1985. The agents were arrested and held by New Zealand police, and were to be put on trial for ìterrorist activitiesî, but under threat of sanctions by the USA, UK and France, the NZ government had to release these operatives.
Or the USA using CIA operatives in El Salvador to train and operate squads that murdered the opposition to the ruling government, installed and assisted by the USA?

It would appear that terrorism is a bad thing only when committed against ourselves. When we do it, itís right and correct. Nobody has asked what business the USA has in the Middle East, it takes it upon itself to act as a world-police, barging into areas it is not welcomed and using itís might to tell other countries how they should and shouldnít operate.
I am not saying the USA ìdeservedî the attack on Sept 11th, nobody does.
I am saying that America, in many areas, is just as guilty as people like Bin Laden for acting in ways considered ìterroristî.
Did you know that the USA and UK are being investigated in the European Court of Civil Rights and The Hague for War Crimes? (relating to the Bosnian situation).

Afghanistan is a country already on itís knees from years of abuse by Russia, The USA and The French. They have little to no communication abilities and are facing the worst drought since Ethiopia and the situation that prompted Live Aid.
The Taliban is the ruling party, but they came to power through force and are considered by many Afghans to be thugs and murderers. Any aid that reaches Afghanistan is siphoned by the Taliban, 95% of cars are owned by them, most to all property belongs to them.
It has been highlighted that many Afghans would not even know who Bin Laden is, they are concerned with survival and food/water.
Bin Laden is a (formerly trained by the CIA) terrorist.
What people seem to forget is that he has done nothing to the USA until the broadcast yesterday.
(The USA has yet to provide any evidence he is behind the plane attacks on the WTC).
After the Oklahoma bombing, the USA launched several air-strikes against Bin Ladenís camps in retaliation for ìthe evil of terrorismî.
Except Timothy McVeigh stood up and admitted he did it, not a Middle Eastern man at all but an American.
Bin Laden then vented his fury by declaring a Jihad against the States, only after being bombed for things he denied any involvement in (sounding familiar to anyone?).
The Taliban offered, as did Afghanistan, to hand over Bin Laden once the USA had shown them the evidence it had to link him to the crimes.
The USA refused to do so, declaring ìthat is not good enough anymoreî.
And the speak of the ìCoalitionî, of all the world support Bush Jr has, it is only the USA and UK involved in the ìwarî.

To quote Bill Hicks, ìA war is when two armies are fighting, so you can see, isnít really a warÖmore of a distraction.î
America gets attacked by terrorists (in retaliation for decades of dubious foreign policy and covert military action against nations that do not agree with the USA), and 3 weeks later the USA and UK are ìat warî.
Except we are bombing towns and cities, carpet bombing areas with high civilian populations and what we are told are ìMilitary targetsî.
How is bombing towns in the dead of night any different to flying two planes into buildings?
The main difference, it would appear, is that this time weíre the ones dancing and celebrating in the streets, waving our flags and cheering.

God Bless Freedom, God Bless America and God Bless Untold Civilian Casualties on both sides, caught up in political penis-measuring.
The people in the WTC didnít ask to be killed, and had nothing to do with USA foreign policy.
The Afghans killed in the bombings, and those to be killed in further action, didnít ask to be killed, had nothing to do with the terrorist attack on Sept 11th.
We all sat and watched in horror as the planes hit the WTC, how many of us sat and watched in horror last night as bombs smacked into towns in Afghanistan?

During the Gulf War, how many of us sat and watched the bomb-mounted cameras hitting targets?
To me, the only difference between us and the people that committed the acts on Sept 11th is that we get to watch it on TV as we eat dinner and get a tear in our eye because weíre ìfighting the evil of terrorismî.
I am not condoning the awful, terrible attacks on Sept 11th in which thousands of civilians died because of a belief that America was evil.
But nor can I condone the awful, terrible attacks on Oct 5th (to ?) in which thousands of civilians will die because of a belief that Afghanistan is evil.

The billions awarded to Bush for this campaign could easily be used instead, to provide basic human necessities like food, water, housing and hygiene for the entire world.
That would do more to remove the threat of terrorism, by giving every single person the basic human comforts that would prevent people like Bin Laden saying ìYou see how badly the West treat you?î.

But that will never happen, because war is good business and the people that decide to go to war never get their hands dirty, they, like we, sit and watch the bombs on the news after another day at work.

The "Co-Ordinates" thing was a joke, not my original email and response.

*sigh*

It was a joke.

Goatboy wrote:
Is it just me, or does "PLEASE SUPPLY LAND
> ADDRESS AND RESEND" sound like "PLEASE SUPPLY CO-ORDINATES" to
> anyone else but me?

Goatboy, with no offence intended, it is a business to business company. Any real company would supply a land address as would any serious enquiry. You didn't, so they don't take you seriously. There contact form does state you must fill in all sections !

And if you get home and there's a packet on the doorstep, don't tread in it...

Just remember, if you get home and there's a packet of fags on the doorstep, for gods sake don't pick them up.....

Glad you liked that post, not too sure why the quoting with no addition from your good self though.

Is it just me, or does "PLEASE SUPPLY LAND ADDRESS AND RESEND" sound like "PLEASE SUPPLY CO-ORDINATES" to anyone else but me?

Goatboy wrote:
> You know it.
Or the M1 Abrahms tank looks nice
Or maybe, from
> naval-technology.com, the Trident Submarine.
Weapons for all occasions, right
> from The Net.
However, I emailed Downing Street with some questions before I
> bought several helicopters and this is my email and the response from the
> Ministery of Defence:

Hello there.
I have been browsing on the Net, and have
> discovered an interesting web site called "Army Technologies", the url
> is :http:www.army-technology.com
And I was wondering what the criteria are for
> purchasing these weapons?
Don't mean to sound all paranoid and conspiry theory but they will doubtless have our land address already.
To say I am slightly alarmed is an understatement, to
> find a web site offering everything from Anti-Tank missile guidance systems, to
> attack helicopters is a little worrying.
I would like to ask how much
> involvement this government has with this sort of web site, and whether you have
> purchased many of these items. I am aware that a response is doubtful, but would
> love to know just what my taxes are being spent on.
I hope that Pains Wessex
> are still trading strongly with Jakarta and other Indonesian groups, and would
> be pleased to hear of how much they made in export licensing with consent from
> the DTI this year.
Thank you."

This is the response:

"PLEASE
> SUPPLY YOUR LAND ADDRESS AND RESEND"

-----

Needless to say, I didn't
> respond.

"Round 'em up, put 'em in a field..."

WÚÛkiee M¯nßÜÄR wrote:
I miss our old comedians. So
> politically incorrect, but SO funny.



That's *why* they were funny.

I watched an old Morcambe and Wise show yesterday afternoon, hadn't laughed so much in ages.

Goatboy wrote:
> Or the M1 Abrahms tank looks nice


Do you remember *that* sketch from Kenny Everett? :-)

I miss our old comedians. So politically incorrect, but SO funny.